The Light In Their Childhood
by Word Professor
Summary: Kidlock! despite what we see now, Sherlock and Mycroft had a friendlier childhood, yeah they had problems but they had the light of their little sister Charlotte. we will also find out why they ended up feuding. this summary really doesn't do it justice I think :) xxx fluff at first but will get more serious as the story goes on xx
1. Chapter 1

The light in their childhood.

Mycroft was eleven years old and Sherlock was five when their baby sister was born. The mother and father named her Charlotte, a name which Sherlock and Mycroft envied because it was so… normal. The mother, Annie Holmes, held the bawling infant in her arms as she tried to sooth her. Mycroft and Sherlock stood nervously at the door of the private hospital room as they watched their new baby sister scream into their mothers' chest.

"Come and hold her Mycroft" said Annie Holmes. Mycroft looked agitated but did as his mother said and he shakily took the loud little creature in his arms. He was shocked at how light she felt and how delicate she was. Large brown eyes stared at him and her relentless crying and almost ceased. This made him happy, they would get along nicely, he thought to himself. He then felt something tugging at his trousers, it was Sherlock looking curious and shy at the little bundle in Mycroft's arms. Mycroft sat on the chair so Sherlock could see the baby and Sherlock just looked at Charlotte in amazement. He had never seen something so small and so... vulnerable.

Mycroft smiled as Sherlock tentatively stroked the baby's head but he pulled away as soon as she moved but she just stared at him and started making those strange sounds that babies make. Annie and George Holmes looked at their three children who were at complete harmony and they realised how lucky they were.

**hope you like it xxx**


	2. Chapter 2

The popup book

Charlotte was one years old and was crawling about the floor until she saw a six-year-old Sherlock on his front on the floor reading an encyclopaedia. With determination she crawled to her brother and climbed on his back and pulled his hair playfully. Sherlock however, was not amused as he tried to remove her from his hair but her vise like grip was not to be challenged.

"Mycroft! She's attacking! I repeat, the sea monster is attacking my ship!"

Mycroft was sat in front of the fire reading when he heard this, why was Sherlock so obsessed with pirates he thought. He got up from his comfortable place to find Charlotte sat on top of Sherlock laughing and hitting his head and pulling his hair. He laughed but then thought he should help Sherlock out. He gently removed Charlotte from the squirming Sherlock. She kicked at Mycroft as he carried her but they she jugged his neck and started pulling his hair. What is it with her and hair, he mused.

He sat back in his chair as Sherlock quickly got back to his encyclopaedia as if nothing had happened. Mycroft got out the new pop-up book he got for Charlotte, he knew she was too young for it but he thought she might enjoy it. As she sat on one of his knees, Mycroft opened the first page, and out popped a picture of a multi coloured fairy. Charlotte was so excited that she giggled and kicked her legs which made Mycroft admire at how cute she was as she clapped her hands together, her dummy even fell out of her mouth.

Noticing this, Sherlock came and joined them as he sat on Mycroft's other knee. As Mycroft turned the pages, Charlotte got even more exited, almost falling of his knee at one point. Sherlock however became more and more confused as fairies and flying toads were popping out of the pages of this strange book. 'Much better than the encyclopaedia though' he thought to himself.

So the three siblings amused themselves and Annie Holmes came home to find them all asleep with Sherlock and Charlotte in Mycroft's arms with a pop-up book open before them.

**just a bit of cuteness :D**


	3. Chapter 3

**An Artists Impression**

Charlotte being three years old now had grown accustomed to the company of Mycroft and Sherlock because their mother did not take long to get back to work so they didn't see much of her. Mycroft thought this quite unfair on his mother's part because he believed it was especially important for a girl to have her mother around. Both Mycroft and Sherlock also saw little of their mother growing up and had been in the care of nannies.

Their father had started going abroad for work more often and was barely home. He was such a stranger that sometimes Charlotte was too shy to sit in the same room as him, but this didn't seem to bother him. Nothing did.

So in her three-year old mind, the most important people in Charlotte's life were Sherlock and Mycroft.

One day in summer when the weather was unusually delightful, Mycroft thought that it would be a good idea for all of them to sit and play outside in the large plot of green luscious grass. Mycroft, now fourteen got out his History homework. He kept a close eye on Charlotte who stayed close but was trudging about the grass muttering to herself in her little childish way. She had decided recently that she would practice saying names all day.

"Mycroff- Mycruft… Micforft" she was still finding it difficult. Bless her, Mycroft thought.

"Sherlick, Shellick, Sherlack, Sholuck" Hopefully she would get the hang of it soon. As Charlotte did her daily mantra, Sherlock was searching for flowers in the hope that he would find some bees. In the space of ten minutes he had already scuffed his trousers and was covered in mud. Every few minutes he would squeal in delight but then get back to his rummaging through the shrubs.

This scene continued until forty-five minutes later Mycroft had dozed off in the afternoon heat and Sherlock had got down to noting down plant species in his new field journal. Charlotte who was feeling the lack of attention from her brothers, noticed the paint pots and paper Mycroft brought just in cases she wanted to paint.

She knelt and picked up the pot of blue paint which was next to Mycroft. As she looked from the pot to Mycroft, and from Mycroft to the pot, her logic brought her to the conclusion that it would be a good idea to empty the paint on his hair. She did, and the blue paint saturated his smooth ginger hair. Noticing that he didn't wake up, she decided to put all the different colours on his face, shirt and arms. She stood next to her brother and admired her work with such innocence that it was adorable. In her eyes, this was not a mess, but an artist's impression.

Sherlock who had briefly looked up to see why she had stopped mispronouncing his name, saw Mycroft on the floor covered in paint and Charlotte with the paint brush in her hand. He dropped his pencil and ran to where Charlotte stood over her canvas.

"Charlotte! What have you done!" he whispered loudly as he took the paint from her. Charlotte took note of the tone of Sherlock's voice and realised she had done something naughty. Her lips started to quiver as she looked up at the bewildered Sherlock.

"Is bad…?" she said as tears started to fill her eyes. Sherlock realising that she was about to cry tried to sound reassuring.

"No, no its ok, Charlotte, its ok don't cry" he said helplessly. He stood for a moment trying to figure out what to do. But then, Mycroft stirred and Charlotte and Sherlock gasped. As Mycroft opened his eyes, Charlotte stared at him as if he were about to explode.

Mycroft felt something hard and peeling on his face and then he took in the scene. He was covered in paint, and Charlotte and Sherlock were stood over him and stared at him in horror. His first reaction was to shout in anger but he quickly realised that that would be a bad idea as he noticed that the culprit was Charlotte because her hands were covered in paint. She would probably start crying if she knew he was angry. He looked at Sherlock who was holding the paint pot. Mycroft got up and took the paint pot from him and then looked at Charlotte who was feeling guiltier by the second.

"Well, who's been having fun with the paints?…" Before she could burst into tears Mycroft did his play angry voice which they were all used to. Charlotte realising that he wasn't angry and was used to the game that Mycroft was proposing, squealed in happiness and ran from the pretend angry Mycroft who was now running around the grass after Charlotte who was clearly enjoying herself.

"Sherrrrluck!" she squeaked as she ran around as Mycroft chased her with paint. Sherlock who found this a perfect opportunity to get Mycroft back for stealing his smurfs, picked up a paint pot and ran after Mycroft.

As they made their way back to the house with Charlotte on Mycroft's shoulders and Sherlock holding his hand, their mother was horrified to see them absolutely covered in paint. After taking a big telling off, Mycroft and Sherlock went to get cleaned up as Mummy Holmes took Charlotte who protested but obliged as she could smell chocolate cake in the kitchen which is where mummy was taking her.

Although the day was fun, Sherlock and Mycroft vowed never to let Charlotte play with paint on her own again.

**So what do you think ? xxx please review if you have time. xxx**


	4. Chapter 4

_**Growing up**_

Charlotte was eleven and was now starting high school. She went to an all-girls school which was an hour's drive away from their home. This meant that she would have to wake up at five thirty every morning, which wasn't the easiest thing for an eleven year old.

Recently, Mummy and Daddy Holmes had been arguing a lot so Annie was always in a bad mood, so Charlotte hardly ever got see her. This meant that Charlotte was almost always lonely because Mycroft had finished university and was now working in London and Sherlock had become busier with work college work.

One day however, Charlotte really missed the guidance of her mother. In the morning she woke up at her usual five thirty and went to the bathroom. Then her heart stopped as she saw that she was bleeding. It was on her pyjamas as well.

She had no idea what it was. All sorts of things were racing through her mind. She checked if she had cut her leg but it was obvious where the blood was coming from. Feeling suddenly weak, she went back to her bed and let her silent tears soak the pillow.

Sherlock meanwhile was getting ready for college when he realised that Charlotte still hadn't come down to breakfast, so he ran up to wake her.

"Wake up Charlotte! And don't bother saying 'five more minutes'" he said teasingly as he poked his head through her door. Shocked at the lack of reproach he got, he walked in to face Charlotte who was still huddled in bed, clutching her stomach.

He was taken aback when he realised that her face was tear-stained and that she looked pale. He knelt so he could be at eye level with her and he put hand on her forehead.

"What's wrong Charlotte? Are you feeling ill?" He said, hoping that was all it was. But the only response he got was a silent shake of the head.

"What is it then?" He said getting more and more worried.

Charlotte couldn't bring herself to say it, she felt so embarrassed, and how would she tell Sherlock.

"Please tell me" he said as he wiped the tears off her cheek. Charlotte realised that she would eventually have to tell someone, so she finally summoned up the courage to tell him.

"I...I'm bleeding" she said weakly with a slightly croaky voice.

"Bleeding where? Did you hurt yourself?" He said with panic.

"No, it just started"

"Started...?" Then the realisation hit him. He had done enough Biology to know about menstruation and also that talking to _him_ about it would be the last thing she needed. But Mummy was at work already.

"I understand... Do you want me to get a maid for you?" He thought that might help.

"What's happening to me?" She whispered.

"Don't worry, I'll try to find Alice, it happens to a lot of people." He kissed the top of her head and went out to find Alice the house maid.

Then he began to wonder how _he_ would tell Alice, it would be really awkward, he thought. When he finally found her in the kitchen, he knew that Charlotte plucked up a lot of courage to tell him, so he should do the same.

"Hello Alice"

"Hello Sherly, do you need anything?"

"No, well er... Its Charlotte, she's ...well..."

"Spit it out Sherlock" she said teasingly.

"I think she would appreciate the advice and company of a woman in this moment of her life", he phrased carefully.

Alice was absolutely confused, but then just like Sherlock, realisation spread across her face.

"Ah I see, I'll go to her right away, I'll handle it, I've got two daughters"

"Thank you so much" he said relieved.

"It's fine dear, but what about her school"

"Oh... I'll ring them up and tell them she's ill" Mycroft certainly wouldn't approve.

"Alright dear... You know what Sherlock, Charlotte is extremely lucky to have you and Mycroft as brothers" this warmed his heart and he smiled.

"Thanks" and knowing that she would be in good hand, he left for college.

It was during the afternoon on that same day that he realised that it was Friday and that meant Mycroft was coming home for the weekend. He must have forgot in all the panic of the morning.

When Mycroft did leave, it was a hard time for everyone.

Both Sherlock and Charlotte cried and even Mycroft shed a small tear as he drove away. He would come back and visit, but his visits became less and less frequent which meant they grew apart even further. Charlotte and Sherlock would have to stick together, but he knew he would have to leave her soon for university as well. Every time Mycroft came over these days, it was often quite awkward and they all felt rather detached from each other.

**hope you like it :D next up will be The parents splitting up and Mycroft's visit. please review xx**


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